What to do in January
What to do in
JANUARY
On the veg plot
FINISH WINTER DIGGING if not yet done and the conditions are suitable, but keep off the soil if it's frozen solid or waterlogged. Cover dug ground with polythene.
HARVEST the last of the Brussels sprouts. Remove the plant debris and dig over the vacated area.
PLAN CROP ROTATION for your annual veg so you can prevent a build-up of soil problems. The four families are:
brassica (add lime to soil if acid, grow in earth that was manured for previous crop - they need a lot of fertiliser); onion (choose soil that was manured for previous crop, add small amount of fertiliser, no watering); pea (needs organic matter but very little fertiliser); potato (no lime, moderate fertiliser, organic matter if available). Finally, root crops (no manure, little fertiliser, not much watering).
ORDER vegetable seed and young plants and fruit plants if not yet done-mail order specialists will have the most choice.
A HOT BOX (right) is a Victorian idea that uses the heat from manure to get earlier crops. Fill a wooden compost bin with fresh horse manure. Cap it with a 1 cm (4in) layer of garden compost and add a cloche.
In the greenhouse
MOVE HARDY CROPS previously sown (garlic, endive, beetroot, broad beans, lettuce, peas) out of a heated greenhouse and into a polytunnel to harden off.
MID TO LATE JANUARY Sow cauliflower 'Mayflower' and tomato varieties such as 'Alicante', 'Shirley', 'Fantasio', 'Ailsa Craig' and 'Moneymaker'. Sow peas into gutter pipes (right). Sow garlic 'Solent White' into small pots. Sow broad bean 'Crimson Flowered'; pepper/chilli 'Jumbo', 'Mohave', 'Gypsy', 'De Cayenne', 'Joe's Long', 'Jalapeno' and 'Sweet Chocolate'; lettuce and finally aubergine 'Calliope' and 'Black Beauty'.
SOWING SEED 1 Fluff up compost. 2 Overfill tray and strike off excess with side of the tamper. 3 Press down gently with tamper. 4 Tip seed into one hand and tap with the other hand so the seed is sown. 5 Sprinkle vermiculite over the surface. This mineral absorbs moisture yet lets in light so is ideal for seed sowing. 6 Label the seed tray with the variety and date sown.
From Gardeners Monthly
